Accounting machine



July 6 1943. HAMMER 2,323,766

ACCOUNTING MACHINE Filed June 29, 1939 INVENTOR IRV/N G. HAMMER ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1943 ACCOUNTING MACHINE lirvin G. Hammer, Washington,

to Underwood Elliott Fisher D. 0., assignor Company, New

York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 29, 1939, Serial No. 281,780

4 Claims.

This invention relates to accounting machines in which numbers are entered denomination by denomination in a register and more particularly to typewriting and accounting machines of the type comprising a series of column registers in which numbers are entered denomination by denomination upon the actuation of corresponding numeral keys and a cross-computing register or crossfooter.

In such machines the totalizer wheels of each column register and the master actuator therefor are moved relatively to shift the actuator from denomination to denomination of said wheels. The crossfooter mechanism also comprises a series of totalizer wheels and a master actuator therefor which are shifted relatively to transfer the actuator from denomination to denomination of said wheels to correspond with the relative shift of the totalizer Wheels and actuator of the column register mechanism.

The mechanism for relatively shifting the master actuator and totalizer wheels of the crossfooter of such machines to shift the actuator from denomination to denomination of the crossfooter has been so constructed that the relative movement of said parts is initiated always at the same point in the movement of the master actuator of the column register with relation to the totalizer wheels of the column register. With this construction, the column register can be used only upon a machine having a crossfooter with the same number of denominations as the register.

It is often desirable to use column registers upon a machine provided with a crossfooter or crossfooters having different numbers of denominations from the number of denominations in the registers. This requires changing the point in the relative denominational shift movement of the number Wheels of the column register and the actuator therefor at which the relative denominational shift movement of the actuator and number wheels of the crossfooter is initiated from that at which this occurs when the column register and crossfoot'er have the same number of denominations.

The primary object of the present invention is to produce a machine of the above class having mechanism for relatively shifting the numeral wheels and actuator of the cross-computing register which may be readily regulated or adapted for use with column registers of different capacities.

With this object in view, the invention consists in a mechanism embodying the novel and improved features, constructions and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the advantages of which will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The invention will be clearly understood from the accompanying drawing illustrating the invention in its preferred form and the following detailed description of the constructions therein shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1- is a plan view illustrating portions of a line space frame and type carriage of a machine embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation illustrating certain portions of the mechanisms shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation illustrating the lower part of a column register with a construction embodying th invention applied thereto,

Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The invention is shown in this application as applied to a combined typewritin and accounting machine of the Elliott Fisher type such as that illustrated and described in the patent to Foothorap No. 1,904,127, dated April 18, 1933. In the drawing of this case, only certain portions of the line space frame and type carriage together with certain associated parts relating particularly to the invention are shown.

The machine shown and described in said Foothorap patent comprises a platen frame, a substantially fiat platen supported in said frame, a line space frame mounted on the platen frame for forward and rearward movement over the platen to line space, and a type carriage carried by the line space frame and arranged for lateral movement on said frame in letter spacing and return directions. In the drawing of the present application, a portion of the line space frame is indicated at 2 and a portion of the type carriage which is mounted for lateral movement on the line space frame is indicated at 4. The machine is provided with the usual register bar 3 supported at its ends upon suitable uprights 8 on the line space frame. Upon the register bar is fixed a column register 10 of any suitable construction.

As shown and described in said Foothorap patent, the carriage 4 carries the usual series of type bars and mechanism for operating said bars actuated or controlled by suitable keys. Upon the successive actuation of the keys, a step ;by step movement is imparted to the carriage in an ad- ,vance direction to letter space under control of the escapement mechanism.

The totalizer mechanism of the column register embodies the usual number and indicating wheels 82 and [4.

Upon the carriage is rotatably carried a master actuator wheel I6 arranged to mesh with the number wheels l2 of the register when the master wheel is located in the zone of the register. The master wheel is shifted step by step by the letter spacing movement of the carriage from number wheel to number wheel of the register to select the required denomination in said wheels. The master actuator wheel is difierentially rotated to enter the numerals or digits in the totalizers of the column register corresponding to the depressed numeral keys by gearing l8 driven by a shaft actuated by the differential mechanism controlled by said keys as shown and described in Foothorap Patent No. 2,043,580, dated June 9, 1936.

The machine is provided with a crosscomputing register or crossfooter 22 mounted upon one end of the carriage 4 for movement therewith, and having a totalizer mechanism which is differentially driven from the shaft Zll as shown and described in said Patent No. 2,043,580. The totalizer mechanism of the crossfooter comprises number wheels 24 and indicating wheels 26 con- 1 nected by a suitable gearing. The crossfooter is provided with a master actuator wheel 28 meshing with the numeral Wheels 24 and arranged to be advanced laterally step by step from denomination to denomination along said numeral -1 wheels to correspond with the movement of the master wheel 16 from denomination to denomination along the numeral wheels of the column register. The master wheel 28 is differentially driven through suitable gearing 30 from the shaft 29 to correspond with the differential rotation imparted to the master wheel 16 to drive the totalizer mechanism of the column register.

The master wheel 28 is slidably mounted upon a rotatable squared shaft 32 journaled in bearings in the side frame plates 34 of the crossfooter and is shifted along said shaft from (16.- nomination to denomination of the number wheels 24.

The mechanism for shifting the master wheel 23 along the squared shaft 32 during the passage of the master wheel [6 through the several denominations of the column register has the same general construction and arrangement and mode of operation of parts as the corresponding mechanism as shown and described in the patent to Foothorap No. 2,145,254, dated January 31, 1939, and in part in the patent to Foothorap No. 2,032,- 691, dated March 3, 1936.

The mechanism for shifting the master wheel comprises an actuator carriage 36 arranged to slide on a horizontal rail 38 secured in the frame of the crossfooter and having an arm engaging in a groove in the hub of the master wheel. The carriage 36 is connected by a link 40 to a forwardly extending crank arm 42 fixed to the upper end of a vertical rock-shaft 44 mounted to turn in bearings in the crossfooter framework. A rearwardly extending arm 4t is fixed to the lower end of said shaft and is connected by a link 48 with a longitudinally slidable coupling bar or slide 50. This bar is mounted between a pair of laterally spaced housing plates 52 secured to the frame of the type carriage and said bar slides between upper and lower series of rolls 54. The

rock-shaft 44 is acted upon by a coil spring 56 connected with the arm 46 which tends to swing the shaft in a direction to maintain the corresponding carriage 3B in starting position with the master wheel 28 in a position just above the first number wheel 24. This spring, acting through the connecting mechanism, urges the coupling bar to the right, Figure l. A coupling dog 58 is pivoted at 60 upon the coupling bar and is acted upon by a coil spring 62 which tends to swing same upwardly into position to engage and interlock with a lug B4 on a contact device 66 secured to the base of the column register 10. A pin or stud 65 is mounted on the coupling dog 58 and engages in an elongated slot 66a formed in the adjacent housing plate 52, the stud Cooperating with cams formed at the opposite ends of the slot to swing the dog downwardly out of engaging position with relation to the lug 64 on the column register. Normally the dog 58 lies in its upper or operative position as shown in Figure 2 with the pin 65 located in the right hand portion of the slot 66a and adjacent to the cam at the corresponding end of the slot. When the carriage has advanced the printing point to a position within one letter space of a columnar position on the work sheet at which a number is to be printed or a position at which the master wheel it of the column register actuating mechanism is within one space of the first number wheel l2 on a column register, the coupling dog 58 will engage the lug 64 on the contact member 66 and will hold the slide 50 stationary during the continued advance of the carriage. Because of the relative movement of the carriage upon which the crossfooter mechanism is mounted and the slide 50, the master wheel 28 will be advanced from denomination to denomination across the corresponding series of number wheels 24. When the master wheel 16 advances one step beyond the lowest denominational order of a column register, the pin 65 on the coupling dog is engaged by the cam at the left hand end of the cam slot 66a, Figure 2, and the dog is depressed out of engagement with the lug thereby releasing the coupling slide. The rock-shaft 44 is then swung by the spring 56 in a direction to carry the master wheel 28 back to its normal or starting position, and the coupling slide is moved back to the right to its starting position shown in Figure 1.

In th usual construction the contact member 66 is mounted in a constant or invariable position on the column register except for certain provisions for fine adjustment thereof, so that the column register can be used only with a crossfooter the totalizer of which has the same number of denominations as the number of denominations in the totalizer of the column register.

It is frequently desirable to use one or more column registers upon a machine in which the crossfooter or crossfooters have a number of denominations diiferent from the number of denominations in the column register. This cannot be done when the contact member and particularly the lug 64 thereof occupy an invariable position with relation to the column register.

In order to provide a construction in which a column register may be used upon a machine having a crossfooter of a capacity different from the register, applicant has produced a construction in which the position of the contact member 66 upon the column register may be varied, in the direction of movement of the carriage, distances corresponding to the distances between the numeral wheels of said register. The contact member 66 comprises a base plate 68 and the contact lug 64 which preferably is formed integral with said plate and projects downwardly therefrom. The base plate 63 of the contact member is secured to the plate by means of a screw 12 engaging in a slot '14 in said base plate and threaded into the plate 10. The plate 70 is fixedly mounted in ans suitable manner on the base of the column register. The base plate 68 is formed with a plurality of rearwardly projecting squared teeth 16 intermeshing with the correspondingly shaped forwardly extending teeth 18 formed on an adjustment-determining block 80 fixed to the forward side of an angular extension 82 formed on the plate 10 and projecting downwardly therefrom. The teeth 16 on the base plate 68 and the teeth 18 on the adjustment determining block 80 are arranged distances apart corresponding with the distances between denominations of the column register. In the usual construction the carriage 4 is shifted T 6 of an inch in each letter spacing movement and the teeth '16 and 18 are arranged of an inch distance apart between centers to correspond with the shifting of the master wheel 16 during each advance of the carriage.

In order to accommodate an adjustment of the contact device 68 to a greater extent than permitted by the length of the slot 14, the plate 10 is formed with a plurality of threaded openings spaced in the direction or line of adjustmentof the contact device to receive the screw 12, these openings being indicated at 8 l The adjustment-determining block 80 is secured to the extension 82 on the plate 10 by means of screws 83 passing through openings 84 in the extension 82 and threaded into the block 80. The openings 84 in the extension 82 are somewhat larger than the corresponding portions of the screws 83 to enable the block 80 to be adjusted in the direction of movement of the carriage distance considerably less than the distance between centers of adjacent teeth 18 or 16, or the distance between denominations of a column register.

With this construction, when the column register I0 is applied to a machine in which the crossfooter has a number of denominations different from the number of denominations in the column register, the contact member 66 may be adjusted to adapt the same to the particular crossfooter by removing the screw l2 from the plate Hi and detaching the contact device from said plate and from the adjustment-determining block 80 and shifting said contact device in the direction of movement of the carriage a distance corresponding to the difierence between the number of denominations in the register and the number of denominations in the crossfooter. The engagement of the teeth 16 on the base plate 68 in new positions between the teeth 78 of the block 80 will locate the contact device accurately one or more denominations from its former position. The contact device may be again secured in its new position by threading the holding screw 12 back into the plate 10.

When a relatively fine adjustment of the contact device is desired, the screws 83 and 12 are loosened and the block 80 is adjusted in one direction or the other parallel with the direction of movement of the carriage after which the screws are again tightened to hold the contact device in adjusted position.

Assuming that the position of the contact device on the column register when the register is used upon a machine having a crossfooter of the same number of denominations is termed its normal position, when the register is used upon a machine having a crossfooter of a greater number of denominations, the, contact member is adjusted to the left from its normal position a distance or number of denominational spaces corresponding to the difference between the number of denominations in the register and the number in the crossfooter. Thus the dog 58 will engage the lug 64 on the contact member to initiate the movement of the master wheel 28 one or more denominational spaces before the master wheel I6 enters the zone of the register It. When the'register is used on a machine having a crossfooter of a less number of denominations than the register, the contact member is adjusted on the register to the right of its normal position a distance or number of denominational spaces corresponding to the difierence between the number of denominations respectively in the crossfooter and in the register. The dog 58 will then engage the lug 64 on the contact member to initiate the movement of the master wheel 28 one or more denominational spaces after the master wheel 16 enters the zone of the register II].

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the form thereof illustrated and described in this application or to the particular construction and arrangement of parts in which it is shown as embodied, but that the invention may be embodied in other forms and may include other constructions within the scope of the claims.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention and having illustrated and described a construction embodying the invention in its preferred form, what is claimed is:

1. In an accounting machine having a column register and a cross computing register, a pick-up mechanism for relatively shifting the accumulator mechanism and the actuator mechanism of the cross computing register to correspond with the relative shifting of the accumulator mechanism and the actuator mechanism of the column register, comprising a support fixed to said column register and having a series of threaded openings, a shift pick-up engaging member having a slot formed therein, a, screw for engaging in said slot and one of said threaded openings to secure the engaging member to the column register, a separate locating device for said engaging member mounted on the register and coacting means on the said locating device and the engaging member for positioning the engaging member in different locations on the register corresponding to different denominations.

2. In an accounting machine having a column register and a cross computing register, a pick-up mechanism for relatively shifting the accumulator mechanism and the actuator mechanism of the cross computing register to correspond with the relative shifting of the accumulator mechanism and the actuator mechanism of the column register, comprising a support attached to the register and having a series of threaded openings, a contact member having a slot formed therein, a screw for engaging in said slot and in one of said openings to attach the contact member to the register, an adjustment-determining device secured to the register and engaging said contact member, means for attaching the adjustment-determining device to the register for adjustment to adjust the contact member in different positions less distances apart than the distances between denominations of the registerand inter-engaging means on the contact member and adjustment determining member for cating the contact device in difierent denominational positions on the register.

3. In a machine of the class described having a column register comprising accumulator mechanism, a master wheel for actuating the accumulator mechanism, means for supporting the master wheel and register for relative movement to transfer the master wheel from denomination to denomination of the register, a cross computing register comprising an accumulator mechanism, a master wheel for actuating the accumulator mechanism of the latter register and means for supporting the latter register and master wheel for relative movement to shift the latter master wheel from denomination to denomination of the latter register; a pick-up mechanism for relatively shifting the master wheel and the accumulator mechanism of the cross computing register to correspond with the relative shifting of the master wheel and the accumulator mechanism of the column register comprising a contact device mounted on the column register for adjustment in the direction of relative movement of the master wheel and accumulator mechanism of said register, an adjustment determining device secured to the column register for adjustment in the same direction, inter-engaging means on the contact device and said adjustment determining device for locating said contact device on the column register selectively in a plurality of predetermined positions, each a distance of one denomination from an adjacent position, and means for attaching said contact device to the register separately from said adjustment determining device.

4. In a machine of the class described having a column register comprising accumulator mechanism, a master wheel for actuating the accumulator mechanism, means for supporting the master wheel and register for relative movement to transfer the master Wheel from denomination to denomination of the register, a cross computing register comprising an accumulator mechanism, a master wheel for actuating the accumulator mechanism of the latter register and means for supporting the latter register and master wheel for relative movement to shift the latter master wheel from denomination to denomination of the latter register; a pick-up mechanism for relatively shifting the master wheel and accumulator mechanism of the cross computing register to correspond with the relative shifting of the master wheel and the accumulator mechanism of the column register comprising a contact device mounted on the column register for adjustment in the direction of relative movement of the latter master wheel and register, a contact locating device mounted on the column register, interengaging means on the contact locating device and the contact device for positioning the contact device in different locations on the column register, one denomination apart, to correspond with the positions of the different denominations of said register, means for attaching the contact locating device to the column register for adjustment in different positions less distances apart than the distances between denominations of said register, and means for securing rigidly the contact device to the register separately from the contact locating device.

IRVIN G. HANEMER. 

